NASW Chapters Find a chapter Select Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut DC Metro Delaware Florida Georgia Guam Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana International Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York New York City North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Puerto Rico Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virgin Islands Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

Children, Families, & Schools Practice Update from the National Association of Social Workers © NASW January 2002	Volume 2, Number 3 January  2002 National Association of Social Workers 750 First Street NE – Suite 700 Washington, DC 20002-4241 Phone: 202-408-8600 TTD: 202-336-8396 Fax: 202-336-8311 Web: www.socialworkers.org

Characteristics of Safe Schools —Students whose families are involved in their growth in and outside of school are more likely to experience school success and less likely to become involved in antisocial activities. —A positive relationship with an adult who is available to provide support when needed is one of the most critical factors in preventing school violence. —Effective schools communicate to students and the greater community that all students are valued and respected. —It is important that students feel safe when expressing their needs, fears, and anxieties to school staff and other adults. —Students who do not receive the support they need are less likely to behave in socially desirable ways. (U.S. Department of Education, 1998)

The Social Context of Creating Safe Schools for Students

INTRODUCTION

The problem of school-based violence, in all forms, is not isolated to the setting in which it occurs. Rather, it is a function or manifestation of what occurs in the home, the school, and the surrounding community. In addition to these factors, school-based violence, to some extent, is also influenced by what occurs in the media, the entertainment industry, and even the political arena. On average, children and youths spend six to eight hours a day in the school setting, making it a likely environment for their problems, fears, anxieties, and other concerns to manifest. Aside from the "normal" challenges of child and adolescent development, such as puberty and identity formation, many school-age children are bombarded with real-life pressures for which they lack the appropriate coping skills and resources to respond. These students arrive at school with problems, fears, and anxieties in hand—ready for the school day. Furthermore, these students are at increased risk of school violence as either perpetrators or targets. Students must feel safe, be safe, and have their basic needs met to be emotionally, mentally, and physically available for learning. Schools that promote safety as a priority and that "satisfy students’ basic needs benefit from students’ improved attitudes and behaviors" (Learning First Alliance, 2001, p. vi).

Public education is vital in working with students and their families to promote the total development of the child—intellectually, socially, and physically (NASW, 2000). The traditional focus of our nation's public school system has been on education, learning, and promoting "academic" success. While these areas should and must remain a top priority, schools that do not appreciate or address the needs of the "whole" student, and that fail to integrate the family and community will repeatedly fall short in meeting their students’ academic and social–emotional needs. However, just as students are presented with problems and new challenges, so are schools in how they choose to intervene and attempt to prevent school-based violence—how they choose to create safe schools for students. The Office of the Surgeon General in its study on youth violence, found that "in schools, interventions that target the social context appear to be more effective, on average, than those [interventions] that attempt to change individual attitudes, skills, and risk behaviors" (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2001, p. xiii). Social work services across practice settings, not just schools, are rooted in the "person-in-environment," a social context perspective. Social workers experience their clients in the context of larger systems, such as families and communities. Social workers are uniquely trained in facilitating the development of relationships among individuals, families, and communities. In the social context of creating safe schools for students, social workers are a crucial component and link in developing and facilitating successful interventions.

IMPLICATIONS FOR SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE

Preventing school-based violence and creating safe schools for students is not a task for which the public school system should maintain sole responsibility. The school system is but one component of the total equation. Students, families, faith-based communities, local police, courts, and the greater community share in the task of creating safe schools. However, a truly comprehensive and competent partnership extends beyond the family, school, and community and recognizes the influence and role of the media, the entertainment industry, and local, state, and federal policies and regulations in creating safe schools. Social workers at all levels of intervention are critical in developing a comprehensive response to school violence, thereby creating safe schools.

The Role of Students, Parents, and Families

According to information obtained by the Learning First Alliance (2001), the vast majority of students who come to school are ready to learn and comply with school rules and norms (80 percent). Another 10 percent to 15 percent of students are able to "fit in" with moderate assistance such as anger management, conflict resolution, or social skills training. The remaining 5 percent have severe and chronic behavior problems and need continuous, intensive help, such as individual counseling or an alternative educational placement. Nonetheless, most students, even some in this latter category, want to experience a sense of belonging—a sense that they are connected to something larger than they are. The majority of parents and families also want to be involved in and influence their child’s education and social–emotional development. Students, of all ages, as well as parents and families, want and need to experience a sense of control on some level when it comes to education. Students, parents, and families are "partners" in education. Many students, parents, and families are quite skilled in asserting themselves and ensuring that their voices are heard and their needs met. Yet others lack the necessary or appropriate skills and supports. Social workers who practice in school or community-based settings can

• work with students, individually or in group settings, to develop their social skills, which will improve their interactions with peers, teachers, family, and the community. Social workers can help students form connections between their social skills and verbal and nonverbal communication with others.
• assist students in becoming active participants in their education and school community.
• model appropriate behavior for students.
• compliment students on their appropriate behavior.
• use groups and one-on-one opportunities to help students understand the short- and long-term impacts of their behavior (teasing, bullying) on others.
• encourage students to become involved in after-school activities, whether school or community-based.
• support and encourage students to involve themselves in school-based activities. This can include creating artwork that can be displayed at school, writing poems or articles for the school newspaper, participating in an existing club, or creating a club based on the student’s interests.
• assist and encourage parents and families to participate in school meetings and other school-based or school-sponsored activities. This may involve identifying barriers that may prevent them from becoming involved, and mobilizing resources. It is especially important for parents of children with special needs to experience the school environment from varied perspectives.
• link students and families with other students and families who share similar interests.
• conduct home visits, involving the student, where they can experience the partnership among home, school, and community. Furthermore, students are more likely to feel safe when they see a positive partnership among family, school, and community (Learning First Alliance, 2001).
• for school social workers, encourage other school personnel to partner with parents.
• support and encourage parents and families to become involved with community-based and community-sponsored programs and activities.

The Role of Schools and Communities

Contrary to media focus, schools are one of the safest places for children. The incidence of school-based violence actually decreased during the past decade (Learning First Alliance). However, now is not the time to become complacent in the focus on school-based violence and school safety. It is imperative that school safety be made a genuine priority, rather than an "afterthought" or in response to specific incidents of school violence. Whereas it is crucial that schools be prepared in their response to incidents of violence, it is as important, if not more so, that schools focus on preventive efforts. Part of such efforts should involve cultivating a sense of cohesion and connectedness to the school and community. Experiencing a sense of belonging "fulfills students’ [and staffs’] basic psychological needs for belonging, autonomy, influence, competence, and physical security" (Learning First Alliance, p. 2). Students who feel a sense of connectedness to their school environment tend to be more committed to the school and its rules (Learning First Alliance).

In creating safe schools for students, it is critical that schools and communities partner with each other, and with parents and families. School social workers and social workers in other community-based practice settings are trained in facilitating links among families, schools, and communities. Social workers can

• support and facilitate opportunities for school–community partnerships (that is fundraisers, field trips, and mentoring). Encourage community-based programs, businesses, and churches to sponsor and support school programs.
• conduct school-based activities in the community.
• provide related and relevant consultation and in-service training to teachers, administrators, and other school personnel.

The Influence and Role of the Media and Entertainment Industry

The potential harm imposed by some media and the entertainment industry on children and youths has been heavily debated during the past few decades. There is an increasing body of research that "explain how exposure to media violence would activate aggressive behaviors in some children [and youths]" (DHHS, 2001, p. 87). The U.S. Surgeon General’s Office found in its study on youth violence that "American children and youths spend, on average, more than four hours a day with televisions, computers, videotaped movies, and video games" (DHHS; Roberts, Foehr, Rideout, & Vrodie, 1999; Woodard, 2000). A recent National Television Violence Survey (Wilson et al., 1997) had the following findings:

• Sixty-one percent of television programs contain some violence, and only 4 percent of television programs with violent content feature an "antiviolence" theme.
• Forty-four percent of the violent interactions on television involve perpetrators who have some attractive qualities worth emulation. \
• Forty-three percent of violent scenes involve humor either directed at the violence or used by characters involved in the violence.
• Nearly seventy-five percent of violent scenes on television feature no immediate punishment for or condemnation of violence.
• Forty percent of programs feature "bad" characters who are never or rarely punished for their aggressive actions.

Children and youths learn by what they see and are repeatedly exposed to—"observational learning." "Observational learning is a powerful mechanism for acquiring social scripts, [both positive and negative], throughout childhood [and adolescence]" (DHHS, 2001, p. 88). It is "probably the major psychological process underlying the effects of media (and entertainment) violence on aggressive behavior" (DHHS, 2001, p. 88). It is important to note that violent behavior seldom, if ever, results from a single factor. Rather, it is more likely the culmination of multiple factors occurring over time that contribute to such behavior (DHHS).

In the course of completing client assessments involving children and youths, it is critical that social workers be aware of exposure to violence, the frequency and intensity of such, as well as other factors that, when linked with such exposure, may increase the risk of aggressive behaviors. For example, a child who is frequently exposed to violence on the television and through music, and resides in a violent home and community may be at heightened risk of aggressive behavior. School is a likely place where such aggressive behavior would be manifested. Any school- or community-based program or intervention intended to target school-based violence or improve school safety should weigh the influence of media and entertainment violence on children and youths. The most well-intended and well-designed efforts and interventions can falter if external influences are not considered.

The Influence and Role of Local, State, and Federal Policy and Legislation

Local, state, and federal policy and legislation govern, or at a minimum, influence public education. Such policy and legislation can either enhance or restrict services provided and made available to students and their families, and schools. School social workers and social workers in community-based practice settings can

• stay informed of local, state, and federal policy or legislation focusing on school safety and school-based mental health services to students

• become familiar with and support NASW’s legislative agenda, which has a focus on education

• write letters to local and state legislators regarding relevant legislation or to advocate for improved students programs and services

• support legislators who demonstrate a commitment to school safety.

School social workers support schools to carry out their primary functions of educating all students more effectively by addressing the social–emotional needs of students and their families (NASW, 2000). However, social workers in other roles and practice settings (such as, public health social workers, community-based health and mental health settings) also may be influential in helping to create safe school environments. Social workers in such settings often interact with students and their families on a different level or with a different focus than the school social worker. Without assuming the role of the other, social workers across practice settings may be instrumental in creating safer schools by partnering and forming community collaboratives, bearing in mind the limits of confidentiality surrounding students and minors.

• School social workers can become familiar with local agencies and community-based settings that employ social workers and explore opportunities for collaborating efforts to create safer schools (and communities).
• Social workers in community-based practice settings can become familiar with school social work services and school social workers and explore opportunities to coordinate their efforts in developing safer communities, which will lead to safer schools.

This practice update is intended to emphasize the significance of partnerships involving students, families, schools, communities, the media/entertainment industry, and local, state, and federal policy and legislation in creating safe schools for students. Social workers across practice settings are instrumental in this effort. In many school districts across the nation, school social workers often are restricted by time and by funding and budget priorities. Social workers in other settings, particularly community-based settings, often target the same population of children, youths, and families, but from a different perspective. Schools and communities that work together to combine and compliment efforts contribute to the development of stronger, healthier families. The stronger and healthier the family, the better equipped and skilled they are in supporting and meeting the needs of their school-age children. The unique training and expertise of social workers in school and community-based settings can facilitate stronger bridges and alliances among home, school, and community.

References

Learning First Alliance. (2001). Every child learning: Safe and supportive schools. Washington, DC: Author.

National Association of Social Workers. (2000). Education of children and youths. In Social work speaks, NASW policy statements, 2000–2003 (pp. 89–95). Washington, DC: Author.

Roberts, D. F., Foehr, U. G., Rideout, V. J., & Vrodie, M. (1999). Kids & media @ the new millennium. Menlo Park, CA: Henry J. Casey Foundation.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2001). Youth violence: A report of the Surgeon General [Online]. Available: www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/youthviolence/report.html.

U.S. Department of Education. (1998). Early warning, timely response: A guide to safe schools [Online]. Available: www.ed.gov/offices/OSERS/OSEP/earlywrn.html.

Wilson, B. J., Kunkel, D., Linz, D., Potter, J., Donnerstein, E., Smith, S. L., Blumenthal, E., & Gray, T. (1997). Violence in television programming overall: University of California, Santa Barbara study. In M. Seawall (Ed.), National television violence study (Vol. 2, pp. 3–204). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Woodard, E. H., IV, & Gridina, N. (2000). Media in the home 2000: The fifth annual survey of parents and children [Online]. Available: www.appcpenn.org/inhome.pdf.

Doc #948

La Voyce B. Reid, MSW, LCSW
Senior Staff Associate
Children, Families, and Schools
lreid@naswdc.org

• 
• 
• Search